The Rock Chalkboard

Bill Self reflects on Marcus Garrett's return for KU basketball
“It was definitely big [having him back],” said big man David McCormack. “Marcus is a point guard, leader. Marcus makes great moves and great reads so it was great to have him back on the court. He helped us out tremendously.”

Three takeaways: Reviewing KU basketball's win vs. Oklahoma
KU coach Bill Self was unhappy with the Jayhawks' play in the first half. At the break, he gave a familiar halftime speech, telling the team it hadn't played very well but that the score was still at a close margin.

David McCormack provides 'great energy,' timely scoring vs. OU
There were five seconds on the shot clock — 16 left in the game — when David McCormack caught the ball in the post. He turned over his right shoulder and bounced the ball once. He took a dribble to the middle of the court, neutralizing the help defense coming from the wing.

The Drive: Inside a big week for KU basketball's David McCormack
The 15th season of The Drive continues following KU basketball's win vs. Oklahoma, one in which David McCormack scored 17 points. It was McCormack's second-straight game leading the Jayhawks in scoring.

KU basketball vs. Oklahoma: Who stood out and who didn't...
The only thing that kept McCormack from having a bigger game was the Jayhawks’ inability, at times, to throw it inside when he was available and open. McCormack did a sound job establishing deep post position and rolling hard to the rim, plus the Jayhawks got him involved in slip-screen action, too. He was a big target on the inside and had no issue backing down a much thinner big man in Oklahoma’s Kur Kuath.

Jalen Wilson shrugs off early struggles with clutch 3 vs. OU
As he tried driving into the lane, Wilson traveled, committed a charge and threw the ball away in one motion. It was the redshirt freshman’s sixth turnover of the first half — topping his career-high of four that he set on Dec. 17, 2020, at Texas Tech.

Saturday's recap of St. James National Basketball Invitational
There haven't been many events this year, but the St. James’ NIBC Invitational has hosted some of the top talent in the nation. I got to come down to Springfield, Virginia where several teams got a serious test on the big stage. Here are some of the top performers from Saturday’s slate of games.

Basketball Snap Judgments and Big 12 Power Rankings
The Big 12 Conference basketball season is underway (again). Teams began playing league games three weeks ago, then took a week off to play a couple gimme games, enjoy Christmas, and prep for the new year. With teams roughly a third of the way through their 2020-21 basketball season, it seems like now is as good a time as any to release our next edition of snap judgments and Actually Accomplished Rankings of the year. First, we'll give a rundown of each team, what happened since our last update, and what's up next on the schedule.

Eraser Dust

Pelosi lays out next steps as momentum builds for impeachment
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday laid out the next steps in the bid to remove President Trump from office in the wake of the assault on the U.S. Capitol. The White House, meanwhile, said Mr. Trump is set to travel to the U.S.-Mexico border on Tuesday and will resume official duties amid the firestorm.

Ex-Capitol Police Chief Says Requests For National Guard Denied 6 Times In Riots : NPR
Former chief Steven Sund -- who resigned his post last week after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for him to step down -- made the assertions in an interview with The Washington Post published Sunday.

Howard Liebengood, Officer Who Defended Capitol at D.C. Riots, Dies by Apparent Suicide
A Capitol Police officer who responded to the deadly riots in Washington last week died by an apparent suicide on Saturday, according to multiple news reports, as the department struggles to fully recover from the devastating and destructive siege carried out by pro-Trump extremists.

PGA Championship leaving Trump National in '22 tournament
The PGA of America cut ties to President Donald Trump when it voted Sunday to take the PGA Championship event away from his New Jersey golf course next year.

An Argentinean Twist - Flathead Beacon
Reynolds and Valdez left Long Island this summer as surrounding areas continued to get hit hard by the pandemic. With most of Reynolds’ immediate family living in Bigfork, they were both ready to leave their busy and stressful lives in the city to start a new chapter in Montana and be closer to family.

Social media platform Parler goes dark after Amazon cloud suspension | Fox Business
Alternative social media platform Parler went down early Monday following Amazon Web Services' decision to suspend Parler from its cloud hosting service after Wednesday's U.S. Capitol riot.

Three Reasons to Buy a Second Home in Bozeman, Montana - Second Shelters
Bozeman has consistently been named one of the fastest-growing cities of its size. While prices have already trended upward considerably, they’re not expected to stop heading that direction… making it the perfect place to have a home with appreciating value. Construction is a common sight in the city as more and more developments continue to pop up. American Airlines does direct flights between Dallas and Bozeman, so it’s just a three-plus-hour plane ride away.